Tuesday, July 22, 2014Conflicting court rulings mark latest Obamacare battleConfusion over language in the law calls subsidies into question, but no changes in the works for Ohio healthcare exchangesby WKSU's ANDY CHOW

ReporterAndy Chow

Government subsidies will continue for people who signed up for health care through the Ohio/federal exchange. But whether these subsidies are legal is the focus of today's conflicting court rulings.

A Washington, D.C.-based appeals court ruled that -- according to the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare -- people can only receive the subsidies if they bought their insurance through a state-run marketplace and not through the federal exchange.

But -- just hours later a Virginia appeals court ruled that the subsidies apply to all states. Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports on what these decisions could mean for Ohio.

Ohio was one of 36 states that opted to use the federal exchange. Cathy Levine with Universal Health Care Action Network Ohio says this argument is based on a piece of ambiguous language in the law.

Levine says, “The interpretation by the opponents of the law flies in the face of the clear congressional intent which is that people get subsidies regardless if they’re in the state or in the federal marketplace.”

Levine says the latter court’s decision proves this point. She adds that Ohioans will not see an immediate impact from the ruling.

Ohio’s department of insurance says it’s still reviewing the decision to understand the full impact on the ruling which the Obama Administration plans to appeal.